Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I second the amendment in the name of Senator Boyhan.

I want to say a couple of things about the general concept of a citizens' assembly. The issues here are not unique to Ireland and are not misunderstood. There are fundamental issues of policy to be addressed. For instance, the state of California has legalised the use of cannabis. A lot of people take the view that it is pointless to suppress the use of cannabis by the use of the criminal law. It is suggested that it simply creates revenue streams for organised crime. My view is that adults should not be penalised for the use of cannabis in any circumstance. If they want to do that, just as if they want to drink or smoke tobacco, that is their option. From a liberal perspective I have to say that if people want to do themselves harm, and cannabis of varying strengths can be extremely harmful, that is generally their business as far as I am concerned. A recent article in The Economistmagazine suggested that the same thinking should apply to cocaine. It was argued that the creation of huge demand for cocaine, combined with its criminalisation, has the effect of creating an income stream for organised crime.

Today we read of the barbaric shooting of a PSNI detective chief inspector in Omagh. The hate lying behind that is something I just do not understand. If one looks at what is happening on our streets and in our suburbs, one sees that people are being shot in the head regularly at the behest of those involved in organised crime. We have to ask ourselves if we can contain it.Is there a successful strategy available to us? Finally, it is all very well to say that adults should be able to do what they want. However, the fundamental issue for this citizens' assembly will be whether, if 18-year-olds are allowed access to drugs, it will be possible to prevent 12-year-olds to 15-year-olds having access to those drugs too. That is a fundamental issue for which liberal principles will not provide a solution. I wish the citizens' assembly well, but some of these fundamental issues are obvious to us in these Houses. They will be no more difficult to resolve as a result of having an assembly than they are at the moment. We all have our views, but the views of 100 citizens are not going to significantly change the national debate and attitudes to the problems I have raised.